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Charles Martel
Charles Martel was the second ship of the Saint Louis-class of Heavy Cruisers. Built to a slightly different specification, Charles Martel was equipped with two additional 152mm turrets, with one each overlooking the rear and aft of the superstructure. To make room for these, the aviation facilities were deleted, and the superstructure shiftered rear to allow for the installation of the forward gun. This was a relatively controversial decision. The Saint Louis-class was specifically designed to operate outside of the main battle fleet, and as such auxiliary aircraft were considered standard affair for these ships. Without aviation facilities, the Charles Martel would have to hypothetically operate within the operating ranges of the limited French carrier fleets, or even more limited French land based air strips. Considering the relatively antiquated state of French Aviation in general during the late 1930s, and the limited range of their land and naval based fighter, the Charles Martel was essentially forced into an escort or coastal role. However, during the war, Heavy Cruisers in general were primarily used as escorts for capital ships. WW2 Service Shortly after being commissioned, the Charles Martel was deployed to the Mediterranean as an escort for the Joffre battlegroup located there. While in Mediterrean, the Charles Martel met with the Gascogne at Casablanca. While Japan had been with war with China for 2 years by this point, French leadership feared Japan would invade French Indochina. Deployed to French Indochina with the Gascogne, the ships arrived in May 1940, relieving the antiquated battleship Toursville. While popular theory pretty much believed Japan would not invade Indochina for at least another 2-3 years. This caused a relative lack of concern, leading to a very under powered French force in the region. The evening of the Charles Martel and Gascogne arrival in Saigon, Japanese forces crossed French Indochina's borders, officially beginning the French-Japanese war. With reinforcements expected to take at least another month, and with Germany laying siege to the Maginot Line, reinforcements were not expected. Over the next week, Charles Martel and Gascogne fired on Japanese forces, expending 1000 15in rounds, and 2000 9in rounds over the next week, returning to Saigon nightly to replace Barrel liners before sailing back north to resume the bombardment of Japanese forces. However, on the eve of May 21, 1940, the Gascogne fired the last of her 15in shells as Japanese forces successfully entered Hanoi. While Gascogne was out of ammunition, the Charles Martel had plenty of shells left, supplemented by additional shells from supply auxiliary ships. With Gascogne in port, Charles Martel continued to fire upon Japanese forces in the city of Hanoi. On May 24th, shortly after Charles Martel departed for the North to continue firing on Japanese forces, Saigon came under heavy air attack from the carrier IJN Izu, crippling the Gascogne to the point where her captain was forced to ground her to save the ship. With the Gascogne stranded, and crippled, and the approaching Japanese Army marching south for Saigon, the remaining french forces were essentially doomed. On a voluteer basis, Gascogne crew was asked to man their battlestations as a last stand against the Japanese, allowing many Civilians the opportunity to flee. With this in mind, the Charles Martel's crew helped prepare and repair the Gascogne for Gascogne's final stand against the Japanese, over the next month the Gascogne was heavily fortified with additional armor, and had her 380 mm guns with 340 mm guns left over from the Toursville. Charles Martel would become a parts ship for the Gascogne, losing one of her 152mm batteries to replace one destroyed in the air attack, along with a dozen of her AA guns to replace Gascogne guns. On July 2nd, 1940, the first Japanese Artillery rounds were heard over the horizon. Not wanting to sacrifice the Charles Martel, she was ordered with a skeleton crew (most of her additional crew stayed behind to help man the Gascogne) to depart Saigon for the nearest allied port. Departing Saigon, the Charles Martel sailed for Ceylon, only stopping in Burma to pick up men injured in the attack against Gascogne. Stopping in Ceylon, the British did not have any facilities capable of refueling the Charles Martel. Worried that with a skeleton crew she could be captured, and with Germany starting to gain ground in France, the Port Authority of Ceylon decided to intern her until otherwise noted to prevent her capture or other use. While the outraged the French, the British had the right to be concerned after the heavy cruiser Foch was captured and used by the Germans until being sunk by British forces. Internment Service & Mutiny From July 31 1940, until 1947, the Charles Martel was essentially left to rot under British 'care' at Ceylon. With no ability to arm the French Cruiser, and the obvious language barriers, bar fights between French sailors and British sailors would not be uncommon at Ceylon bars over the next 7 years. Additionally, stowaways aboard British Transport ships bound for Britain was not uncommon as many French men wanted to join the fighting to protect France. Shortly after German forces cross the Maginot line in 1942, French sailors decided to mutiny against the internment. At 2AM on April 21, 1942, shortly after German forces managed to break through the Maginot line in the South of France, crew of the Charles Martel raised the anchor. British forces had only rationed the Charles Martel enough fuel to keep generators running, but previous to this attempt, the French had all but turned off the generators for most of the time, instead stock piling the fuel for an attempt to make it to France. Raising steam, Charles Martel silently departed Ceylon, making it an hour before British forces at Ceylon realized the missing Charles Martel. Dispatching the HMS Illustrious and HMS King George V to hunt down the Rouge cruiser. After 6hrs, aircraft from Illustrious managed to spot the Charles Martel at slow cruising speed heading south for Cape Horn. Illustrious aircraft performed a low flying fly over of the French Cruiser, drawing small arms fire from French personnel on the deck. HMS KGV continued to run down the Charles Martel, opening fire and firing warning shots on the rouge cruiser. With 14in shells flying across the bow, Charles Martel's crew begun opening fire with secondaries and AA (her main battery shells had been removed to prevent additional stress on the hull). Realizing the Charles Martel had fully mutinied, the KGV fired 3 more rounds, striking and exploding the #2 Main Battery. With a fire breaking out, and being unable to control it, the French were forced to give up the attempt to prevent the loss of the ship. With the mutiny collapsed, the KGV crew boarded the Charles Martel and took her crew captive, and towed her back to Ceylon. After the Mutiny, the Port Authority of Ceylon, not wanting to risk any further animosity, finally agreed for the French sailors to return to France- admittedly not aboard the Charles Martel, but rather a transport. Before departing, the crew of the Charles Martel essentially mothballed the ship, constructing a large shed over the destroyed #2 turret, and covering her sensors and secondaries to protect them. Additionally, she was finally moved and moored at a pier as opposed to being anchored out in the harbor. Mothball Status For the next 4 years, the Charles Martel stayed relatively undisturbed, with only basic maintence being performed by the British. The British removed the Charles Martel's protective covering of her AA equipment and directors, using them to provide additional AA support of the harbor. Those would be the only 2 things maintained by the british during her Ceylon internship, otherwise being maintained by occasional French workers specifically deployed to Ceylon to perform maitence. This ended after the fall of France, as Charles Martel was essentially exposed to Mother Nature for the next 3 years, becoming more and more used as a storage ship for British supplies. When France was finally liberated in 1947, the Battle of the Atlantic being drastically less dangerous then it was in 1940 (or 1942), and with the French in desperate need of escorts. The Charles Martel was the only non-Vichy French Ship to not be utilized by Free French forces due to her condition and location. The Charles Martel, in desperate need of refit, was finally sent to France to receive a much needed refit. Under tow, due to the Charles Martel's engines having seized, she finally arrived in Brest on August 23, 1947. While 'repaired', French naval factories had all but been destroyed, meaning that the Charles Martel's 240 mm #2 turret would not be replaced. Many of the AA complement and secondaries that had either been damaged or removed would be scavenged from other ships, especially those removed from ships that were scuttled following France's capitulation. Mediterranean Service Attached to the French Mediterranean fleet, the Charles Martel was stationed along with- WIP. Sunk by Italian (?) Submarine in 1948.Category:French Navy Category:Heavy Cruiser